Physiological responses to child stimuli in mothers with and without a childhood history of physical abuse

Pergamon

Child Abuse & Neglect. Vol. 18. No. 12. pp. 005-1(}~).4, 19~, Copyright t~ 1994 ElsevierScience Lid Prmled m the USA. All rights resetwed 0145-21341tk.I$600 + .iX) 0 i 45 - 2134(94 ~00077 -8

PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSES TO CHILD STIMULI IN MOTHERS WITH AND WITHOUT A CHILDHOOD HISTORY OF PHYSICAL ABUSE GISELE M. CASANOVA, JOD! DOMANIC, THOMAS R. MCCANNE, AND JOEL S. MILNER Northern Illinois University, DeKalb. IL, USA

Abstract--The present study investigated changes in heart rate. skin conductance, and self-reported affect in response to child stimuli in mothers with and without a childhood history of physical abuse. The stimuli were videotape presentations of a smiling and crying infant. During baseline pcrit~ls {prior to videotape presentations), mothers without a childhood history of abuse displayed a signilicant reduction in skin conductance, which was not observed m mothers with a childh~u.~d history of abuse, suggesting that mothers without a history of abuse habituated to the experimental setting. Ahhough tile two groups of mothers did not differ in self-reported affect or in heart rates in response to the crying and smiling infant, mothers with a childh~d history of abuse showed increases in skin conductance while viewing the smiling infant, but not while viewing the crying infant. In contrast, mothers without a childhood history of abuse showed increases in skin conductance during the presentation of the crying infimt, but not while viewing the smiling infant. Similarities between the skin conductance results fi~r ntothers with and without a childhood history of abuse and skin conductance data reported for physically abusive attd at-risk nlothers are discussed.

K~'v Wor~L~'--l'hysiological responses, ('hild stiumli, Childh~d history of physical abuse. IN T R O D U C T I O N

AS P A R T OF his conceptualization o f physical child abuse, Knutson (1978) suggested that abusers have a hyperreactive trait that mediates the physical assault. Similarly, Bauer and Twcntyman (1985) suggested that abusive mothers are hyperrcsponsive m a variety of stimuli. A nutnber of studies have sought evidence for hyperreactivity by investigating physical child abusers' and at-risk adults' physiological reactivity to child-related stitnuli (Crow¢ & Zeskind, 1992; Dishrow, Doerr, & Caullicld, 1977; Friedrich, Tyler. & Clark, 1985; Frodi & Lamb, 1980, Pruitt & E r i c k s o n , 1986; W o l f e . Fairbanks, Kelly, & Bradlyn. 1983). For e x a m p l e , in the study with the most c l e a r - c u t lindings, Frodi and L a m b (1980) found that physical child abusers, c o m p a r e d to n o n a b u s i v e c o m p a r i s o n parents, s h o w e d larger increases in heart rate and skin c o n d u c t a n c e d u r i n g a v i d e o t a p e o f a c r y i n g infant. A b u s e r s w e r e also reactive to a s m i l i n g child, w h e r e a s c o m p a r i s o n parents w e r e not. C o n g r u e n t with the h i g h e r levels o f p h y s i o l o g i c a l reactivity, abusers r e p o r t e d h i g h e r levels o f n e g a t i v e affect. S i n c e abusers d i s p l a y e d p h y s i o l o g i c a l reactivity to both c r y i n g and s m i l i n g infants, Frodi and L a m b argued that abusers failed to diffdrentiate b e t w e e n the c h i l d ' s a f f e c t i v e states and a p p e a r e d to This research was supporled in part by National Institute ol+Mental Ileahh (;rant MI134252 to ,it~l S. Milner. The

tirst author's work on the manuscript was supported hy a Scholarly Research Award from Purdue University Calumet. Submitted for publication September 2N. 1992: tinal revision received June 14. 1993; accepted Septeml~r 13. 1993. Requests for reprints should be addressed to Thomas R. Mc('annc or .h~:l S. Milner, Family Violence Research Program. Department of Psych<~logy.Northern Illinois University. [~Kath. IL 60115-2892. 995

996

G . M . Casanova. J. Domanic. T. R. McCannc. and J. S. Milncr

view the child as an aversive stimulus regardless of the child's emotional state. After reviewing the literature, McCanne and Milner (1991) reported that, despite some variability in findings between the Frodi and Lamb study and subsequent reports, researchers have generally concluded that physical child abusers and at-risk adults display greater physiological reactivity to child-related stimuli. The literature is less clear with respect to the physiological reactivity of abusive and atrisk subjects to non-child-related stimuli. Using abusive, neglectful, and comparison parents. Friedrich et al. (1985) reported some differential reactivity (i.e., skin conductance) in response to a noxious tone and to white noise. In contrast. Stasiewicz and Lisman (1989), who used high and low-risk+ unmarried college males, failed to find blood pressure differences in response to a smoke alarm. Recently, Casanova. Domanic. McCanne, and Milner (1992) examined the physiological reactivity of high- and low-risk mothers to tbur non-child-related stimuli (i.e., a cold pressor, a film depicting industrial accidents, unsolvable anagrams, and a car horn) and found that high-risk mothers showed greater and more prolonged sympathetic activation to the two most stressful stimuli (i.e., the cold pressor and the film). Although additional data are needed, these results suggest that abusive and at-risk adults may also be hyperreactive to stimuli that are unrelated to the child if the stimuli are judged to be stressful. At present, the factors that contribute to physiological hyperreactivity in abusive and at-risk adults are unknown. However, since many physically abusive parents report a history of physical and/or sexual abuse (e.g., Kaufman & Zigler, 1987; Widom, 1989), the receipt of abuse may play a role in the development of a hyperreactive trait in some individuals. For example, it has been suggested that Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (FFSD) survivors of childhood trauma may be prone to lasting autonomic hyperarot, sability (McNally, 1991). in addition, the diagnostic criteria for trI'SD include "'physiological reactivity upon exposure to events that symbolize or resemble an aspect of the tramnatic event" (American Psychiatric Association, 1987, p. 250). Thus child-related stimuli may symbolize the childhood abuse and result in greater autonomic reactivity in parents who have been abused. The present study was an initial investigation of the relationships between a childhood history of abuse, parental autononfic reactivity, affective responses, and child-related stimuli. The physioh)gical reactivity and the affcctive states of mothers with and without a childhood history of physical abuse were investigated before, during, and after the presentation of videotapes of a smiling and crying infant. During baseline (prior to videotaped presentations), it was hypothesized that mothers with a childhood history of physical abuse, compared to mothers without a history, would show evidence of a hyperreactiv¢ trait. Parallel to the results reported by Frodi and Lamb (1980), it was expected that mothers with a childhood history of physical abuse would show more physiological reactivity and report more feelings of distress when presented videotapes of a smiling and crying infant.

METHOD Stlhjt, cIs Mothers in the present study were part of a larger research project conducted through the Family Violence Research Program at Northern Illinois University. They were recruited from day-care centers and social service agencies in Northern Illinois. Thirty mothers were divided into two groups based on their responses to the Childhood History Questionnaire (CHQ: Milner, Rohertson, & Rogers, 1990). Thirteen mothers who indicated they experienced physical abuse sequelae (i.e., bruises/welts, cuts/scratches, dislocations, burns, and bone fractures) during childhood on one or more occasions from either a parent or adult comprised the history

997

Physiological responses and abuse history Table 1. Parent Demographic Characteristics by Group

Group Demographic Characteristics Age (years) M SD

Education (yearsJ M SD

Marital Status (%) Single Married Divorced Children (number) M SD

History of Abuse

No History of Abuse

30.2 5.1

32.0 5.8

12.6

13.8

1.6

1.8

15.4 53.8 30.8

11.8 64.7 23.5

2.6

2.1

1.0

I. I

of abuse (HA) group. Seventeen mothers who indicated never receiving physical abuse sequelae during childhood made up the no history of abuse (NHA) group. All mothers were white. Other demographic data for the HA and NHA groups are presented in Table I. Separate univariate analyses of variance revealed no significant differences between HA and NHA groups for mothers' age, F(1,28) = .84, p > .05; educational level, F(1,28) = 3.40, p > .05; and number of children, F(I,28) = i.66, p > .05. A chi-square test revealed no significant differences between groups in marital status (i.e., single, married, divorced), ~"(2) = .36, p > .05. Of the 13 HA subjects, 61.5% indicated receiving at least one incident of childhood physical abuse sequelae befi)re age 13, 7.7% indicated receiving at least one incident of childhood physical abuse sequelae alter age 13, and 30.8% indicated receiving at least one incident of childhood physical abuse sequelae both before and after age 13. Subjects in the NHA group indicated never (i.e., neither before nor alter age 13) receiving physical abuse sequelae as a child. While the focus of the study was on physical child abuse, data were also available on the subjects' sexual child abuse history. Post-hoe inspection of these data indicated that 6 of the 13 HA mothers also reported being victims of sexual abuse as children. One of the 17 NHA subjects reported being the victim of sexual abuse as a child. No information was obtained on the possibility of a childhood history of neglect or the presence of spouse abuse in these adult mothers. C h i l d h o o d History Q u e s t i o n n a i r e

The CHQ is a self-report questionnaire that requests information about an individual's childhood history of physical and sexual abuse (Milner et al., 1990). The CHQ consists of a series of questions regarding the presence and frequency (i.e., never, rarely, occasionally, often, and very often) of various physically abusive behaviors (i.e., whipping, slapping/kicking, poking/punching, and hairpulling), physical abuse sequelae (i.e., bruises/welts, cuts/scratches, dislocations, burns and bone fractures) and sexually abusive behaviors (i.e., inappropriate touching, sexual fondling, intercourse/rape, exhibition/flashing, and other). Respondents are asked to indicate whether they received and/or observed any of the listed abusive behavior and sequelae from a parent or other adult prior to and/or after age 13. Construct validity data from the CHQ have been reported by Miiner et al. (1990) and Gold (1991). Mi[ner et al. (1990) reported an internal consistency ( K R - 2 0 ) correlation of .88 for the CHQ.

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G. M Casanova. J. Domanic, T. R. McCanne. and J. S. Milner

Infant Stimuli Two 6-minute color videotapes of a healthy, 5-month-old, white, female were used. The infant was taped sitting in a white carseat, which was placed at a 30 degree angle to the camera in front of a white backdrop. The infant was wearing a yellow one-piece outfit. Each videotape had three 2-minute segments. The first and last segments of the two tapes were identical and showed the infant quiescent but alert. The middle segment of the first videotape showed the infant smiling and cooing audibly, while the middle of the second videotape showed the infant crying. During the last 15 seconds of each videotape segment, mothers were visually instructed to self-report their affective state via a message appearing at the bottom of the television screen. The volume of the television was set so that peaks of 6 5 - 7 0 dB occurred during the crying and smiling segments of the videotapes. Content validity of the videotape segments was assessed by having 10 volunteer females not used in the main study view the tapes and following each segment indicate whether the infant was smiling, crying, or being quiet. One hundred percent of the subjects identified the infant as smiling, crying, and quiescent in the expected manner. When asked to identify the infant's gender, 50% of the subjects indicated that the infant was female, and 50% indicated that the infant was male.

Self-Report Measures The self-report measure assessed the mothers' feelings during the crying, smiling, and quiescent segments of the infant videotapes. A 7-point rating scale was used to assess subjects' emotional responses to the videotapes with the two endpoints labeled (I = very happy; 7 = very upset). Subjects were asked to indicate on the sell-report scale how they felt during each 2-minute segment of each videotape. In order to assess the construct validity of the sell-report measure, 10 volunteer females, not used in the main study, were asked to view the infant videotapes and to complete the selfreport measure indicating their affective state at the end of each videotape segment. Subjects indicated feeling somewhat upset during the crying infant video (M = 5.5), neutral during the quiescent infant video (M = 3.5), and very happy during the smiling infant video (M = 1.4).

Psychophysiological Apparatus Physiological measures were taken in a sound-attenuated experimental chamber that was connected to a control room by means of a two-way audio communication system. Subjects were monitored by a video camera in the experimental chamber, which led into a video monitor in the control room. The control room also contained a videotape player that allowed the presentation of the infant videotapes on a 48.3 cm (19 inch) color video monitor in the experimental chamber. A Grass model 7D polygraph equipped with appropriate preamplifiers and bridges was used to monitor physiological activity. An Apple IIE computer monitored the output of the polygraph channels and digitized the data every 250 ms. Electrodes were attached to subjects in order to measure heart rate, skin resistance, and respiration rate. For measuring heart rate, Ag-AgCI electrodes were placed on the lower left rib cage and on the right collar bone. For measuring skin resistance, a I cm" Ag-AgCI Beckman electrode placed on the volar surface of the second phalanx of the index finger of the nonpreferred hand served as the active electrode. An identical electrode placed on the volar surface of the second phalanx of the third finger of the nonpreferred hand served as the inactive electrode. A constant current of 10 microamps/cm: was impressed at the active site, making that portion of the subjects' epidermis lying beneath the two electrodes an arm of a resistance bridge. Skin resistance was later transformed to

Physiological responds and abuse history

999

conductance units by means of a reciprocal transformation. A heat-sensitive thermocouple was clipped to the tip of the subject's nose to provide a measure of respiration rate. Respiration rate was visually monitored to minimize potential artifact due to serious respiratory maneuver (e.g., hyperventilation, breath holding). However, no subject was removed due to respiratory maneuver.

Procedure Following agency staff contact with prospective subjects, volunteer mothers completed and returned an informed consent form that described the initial screening process. Mothers were told that information regarding their background would be requested (CHQ and a personal data form) and that some of this information dealt with sensitive events that may have occurred in their past. Subjects were also told that if they felt distressed by the content of the questions and wished to withdraw, they could do so at any time. HA and NHA mothers were contacted by telephone and arrangements were made to meet for the experimental session. The experimenter who conducted the physiological assessment was blind to subjects" history of abuse status. At the beginning of the experimental session, the mothers were provided with a second informed consent form that described the physiological monitoring and indicated that they would view videotapes of an infant and rate their feelings about the infant. Alter signing the second informed consent, each mother was given a brief tour of the laboratory and was seated in a reclining chair in the experimental chamber. Electrodes were then attached. The experimenter gave instructions to subjects from the control room via the intercom. Subjects were told to make self-reports when instructed to do so by a message that appeared at the bottom of the television screen. Next, subjects were told to relax h~r a few minutes. Alter 3 minutes, the experimenter recorded 2 minutes of the subjects' physiological responses to serve as a resting baseline measure. Once the resting baseline measure was completed, subjects were instructed to focus their attention on the television monitor. The experimenter then started one of the two infant videotapes (smiling or crying). Eight of the HA mothers saw the infant videotapes in the cry/ smile order and live saw the tapes in the smile/cry order. Eight of the NHA mothers saw the tapes in the cry/smile order and nine saw the tapes in the smile/cry order. As the videotape ran, subjects' physiological responses were recorded continuously. Subjects completed the self-report measure during the last 15 seconds of each 2+minute videotape segment. Alter subjects had completed watching the lirst videotape, a brief resting period of 3 - 5 minutes ensued. The experimental procedure was then repeated using the infant videotape that subjects had not seen. Following completion of the experiment, all mothers were debriefed and questions were answered. Their reactions to the infant videotapes were discussed. As part of the debrieling, each mother was given the opportunity to examine the hardcopy printout from the polygraph and attempts were made to explain the meaning of each recording with respect to the infant videotapes. Each mother was paid $10 for her participation.

RESULTS

Analysis of Resting Baseline Due to equipment malfunction, heart rate data for one subject from the HA group and skin conductance data for two subjects (one from the HA and one from the NHA group) were not available for resting baseline analyses. Separate 2 x 2 x 2 × 8 (Abuse History x Videotape Presentation Order × Infant Affect × 15-second measurement periods) analyses of variance

1000

G . M . Casanova. J. Domanic, T. R. McCanne. and J. S. Milner

40.6

40.4

Z

40.2

~.~

35.2

8o= Z n-

35.0

u~ HISTORY OF ABUSE - o - NO HISTORY OFABUSE •

34.8 !

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15-SECOND M E A S U R E M E N T PERIODS Figure 1. Mean skin conductance for HA and NHA groups during eight 15-second measurement periods associated with the 2-minute resting baseline period.

with repeated measures on the last two factors were conducted for heart rate and skin conductance measures. There were no significant main or interaction effects for heart rate (19 > .05). However, there was a significant Abuse History X Measurement Periods interaction, F(7,168) = 2.90, p < .01, for skin conductance. This interaction is illustrated in Figure 1. As shown in Figure I, subjects in the NHA group exhibited a decrease in resting levels of skin conductance during the 2-minute baseline period, F(7,91) = 4.51, p < .0002. In contrast, subjects in the HA group exhibited no significant change in skin conductance during the 2minute baseline period (p > .05). Follow-up Newman-Keuls tests for the NHA group indicated that skin conductance levels for this group were significantly higher (p < .05) during the first two baseline periods than during the last five periods. While trends were evident (see Figure 1), there were no significant differences between the HA and NHA groups in resting skin conductance levels for any of the eight measurement periods, as indicated by follow-up analyses of variance (p > .05).

Analyses of Reactivity to Infant Stimuli Due to equipment malfunction, skin conductance data for one subject from the HA group were not available for the analyses of reactivity to infant videotapes. In addition, during infant videotape presentations, movement artifacts associated with the act of making a self-report contaminated portions of the heart rate and skin conductance data. AS a result, all data from the first and last 15 seconds of each 2-minute segment were deleted from the analyses, leaving 1.5 minutes for each segment or a total of 4.5 minutes for each videotape. Mean heart rate and skin conductance levels were calculated during nine 30-second measurement periods for each videotape (i.e., three 30-second prestimulus quiescent intervals, three 30-second stimulus presentation intervals, and three 30-second post-stimulus quiescent intervals). Separate 2 X 2 × 2 X 9 (Abuse History x Videotape Presentation Order X Infant Affect x Measurement Periods) analyses of variance with repeated measures on the last two factors were conducted lbr heart rate and skin conductance. There were no significant main or interaction effects fbr heart rate (p > .05) and no significant main effects for skin conductance

Physiological responses and abu~ history

40.8 40.6

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40.4

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34.4-

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34.0-

33.8-

3,3.6" 33.4" HISTORYOF ABUSE- ° Nb HISTORYOFABUSE •

33.2 ° I

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QUIESCENT

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CRYING I QUIESCENT

30-SECOND M E A S U R E M E N T PERIODS

Figure 2. Mean

Z I !

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QUIESCENT I SMILING QUIESCENT 30-SECOND M E A S U R E M E N T PERIODS

skin conductance for IIA and NIIA groups during nine 30-second m e a s u r e m e n t periods axsociatcd with tile crying and the smiling infant vidcotapt.'s.

(p > .05). However, there was a significant Abuse History × Infant Affect × Measurement Periods interaction for skin conductance, F(8,216) = 1.94, p < .05. This interaction is illustrated in Figure 2. Examination of the data presented in Figure 2 suggested that the significant triple interaction occurred primarily because of differential response patterns of the HA and NHA groups to the smiling and crying infant videotapes. Follow-up one-way analyses of variance did not indicate any signiticant differences (p > .05) in skin conductance levels between groups during any measurement period associated with the crying infant videotape. Further, follow-up oneway analyses of variance did not show any significant change (p > .05) in skin conductance levels across measurement periods for the crying infant videotape for the HA group, but did indicate a significant change in skin conductance levels across measurement periods for the NHA group, F(8,120) = 6.87, p < .001. Skin conductance levels for the NHA subjects were signilicantly higher during the first 30 seconds of viewing the crying infant than during all other periods (p < .05, Newman-Keuls test). Thus, the NHA subjects reacted to the crying infant with a signilicant increase in skin conductance during the initial crying portion of the videotape, whereas HA subjects did not exhibit an increase in skin conductance levels during the crying infant tape. Inspection of the skin conductance data for the smiling infant videotape revealed a pattern of responding for NHA and HA subjects that was the reverse of the pattern of responding noted during the crying videotape (see Figure 2). Follow-up one-way analyses of variance did

lq~)2

G. M. Casanova. J. Domanic. T. R. McCanne. and J. S. Milncr

not indicate any significant differences (p > .05~ between groups in skin conductance levels for any measurement period associated with the smiling infant videotape. Additionally, to[lowup one-way analyses of variance did not indicate a significant (p > .05) change in skin conductance levels for the NHA subjects across measurement periods during the smiling infant videotape, but did indicate a significant change in skin conductance levels across measurement periods for the HA subjects, F(8,961 = 4.37, p < .001. Skin conductance levels for the HA subjects were significantly higher during the first 60 seconds of viewing the smiling infant than during all other periods (p < .05, Newman-Keuls tests). Thus, the HA subjects reacted to the smiling infant with a significant increase in skin conductance during the initial smiling portions of the videotape, whereas the NHA subjects did not exhibit an increase in skin conductance during the smiling tape. As previously noted, this pattern of skin conductance change for the two groups during the smiling infant videotape was the reverse of the pattern of responding observed during the crying infant videotape.

Analysis of Self-RtTJort Measure A 2 x 2 × 2 x 3 (Abuse History x Videotape Presentation Order x Infant Affect x Measurement Periods) amdysis of variance was computed for the self-reported affect ratings. The analysis did not yield any main or interaction effects involving abuse history (p > .05), indicating that mothers who were physically abused as children did not rate their reactions to the infant difl2"rently than mothers who were not physically abused as chiklren.

DISCUSSION There was some support for tile hypothesis that mothers with a reported childhood history of physical abuse, compared to mothers without a reporled history of physical abuse, would show evidence of a hyperreactive trait. Baseline di fferences suggested thal the mothers without a childhood history of physical abuse habituated to the experimental situation prior to the presentation of each infant tape, while mothers with a childhood history of abuse did not. These data are congruent with the view thai mothers with a childhood history o1" physical child abuse may be hyperreactive to non-child-related stressful situations, such us the experimental environment used in the present experiment. lleart rate did not change under any experimental condition, tlowever, as has been observed for general population mothers (e.g., Frodi & Lamb, 1980), the mothers without a childhood history of abuse displayed an increase in skin conductance when presented a crying infant, but not when shown a smiling inhmt. Mothers with a childhood history of physical abuse showed a pattern of skin conductance response that was opposite to that of mothers without a childhood history of physical child abuse. Thal is, flA mothers displayed an increase in skin conductance when presented the smiling child, but showed no change when presented the crying child. In general, the skin conductance data indicated that mothers without a childhood history of physical abuse responded with the expected sympathetic activation during presentation of the crying infant and lack of reactivity to the smiling child, whereas mothers with a childhood history of abuse responded with a somewhat paradoxical increase in sympathetic activation to a smiling child but not to the crying child. The lack of skin conductance activation to a crying child for mothers with a childhood history of physical abuse suggests that these women may be less sensitive to a child's negative emotional slate. In contrast, the increase in sympathetic activation to a smiling child for mothers with a childhood history of physical abuse suggests that a relatively pleasant child may have arousing properties for these parents.

Physiological responses and abuse history.

IOO3

The skin conductance results of the present study were similar to data reported by Frodi and Lamb (1980). who tbund that abusive mothers displayed increased physiological reactivity during the presentation of a smiling infant. Frodi and Lamb also found that abusive mothers showed increased reactivity to the crying infant, but this result was not obtained in the present study. Additionally, in contrast to the self-report data presented by Frodi and Lamb, the differential skin conductance results noted in the present study were not accompanied by selfreports of different affective states during presentation of the smiling and crying infant. Although the present findings should be viewed as inconclusive, the results of this first psychophysiological study of mothers with and without a childhood history of physical abuse are sufficiently encouraging to indicate that additional research is warranted. In addition, there are several conceptual and methodological limitations of the present study that should be considered in future research. First, the definition of a childhood history of physical abuse was very broad, including mothers with only one childhood incident of abuse sequelae (physical damage) by a parent or adult at any time during childhood. The restriction of physical abuse to only severe cases and/or chronic cases and the use of comparison parents without any childhood history of abusive behavior or sequelae might produce more robust findings. Likewise, the relative contributions of the experience and observation of sexual child abuse and child neglect, the observation of spouse abuse, and the developmental level of the child when the abuse occurs need to be considered. Congruent with this view, Foa. Steketee, and Rothbaum (1989) have indicated tha! ill understanding PTSD, tile trauma duration and the number of traumatic events, among other t';,ctors, are critical considerations when investigating the role of post-traumatic reactions. In addition, the use of more powerfifl or salient stimuli should be investigated. For example, tapes of a parent's own smiling or crying child could be presented. Using a lrFSD model, a more potent stimulus than viewing a smiling and crying infant might he to have tile inothers recall a physically abusive incident that occurred during their childhood and to measure physiological reactivity during this recall. Ethical considerations, however, may restrict the design of research inw)lving such presentations. Investigation of polCUt n o n child-related strcssors in subjects with and widloul a childhood history of abuse should also be considered. Finally, the present lintlings are gentler spccilic. Adult males with and without a childhood history of physical abnse need It) bc studied. Acknowh.dqement --The authors wish to thank the vn¢)tlnerswho took part in this research and tile participating agencies. TI,e authors also express their appreciation to Kent A. Pierce. Purdtte University Calumet, for assistance wilh the dala aualyscs.

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R~um6--.--.Cette ~tude a coulu observer les effets que I'enfant produit chez des m~res, selon qu'elles ont connu ou non la maltraitance durant leur propre enfance. On a observ~ chez ces deux groupes de m~res les changements dans les battements de coeur, les changements au niveau de la conduction de la peau. et les r~actions affectives telles que dt:crites par les m~res elles-m~mes. Le stimulus consistait en des images sur video d'enfants souriants et d'enfants pleurants. Avant de montrer le video, on a obser,.,~ que la conduction de la peau ~tait affaiblie de fa~on remarquable d~ms Iv cas des m~.,res qui n'avaient pas d'ant~cedents de maltraitance, tandis que les mi:rcs maltrait~es durant Icur enfance ne dtSmontrnient pas de changements au niveau de la peau. cho,~e que les attteurs expliquent par le fair que les m/:rex sans antecedents s't~taient habitu6es ,~ I'environncmcnt o~t se d~roulait le test. Ayant vules deux types de vidt3os, les dcux gronpes de m~res ont rapporlt~ aucun changement dans leurs rt~actions affectives et n'ont d6montrt5 aucun changement dans le rythme cardiaque. Cependant, les m,~res ayant des ant~ct3dents de maltraitance ont dt~montrt~ une hausse dans la conduction au niveau de la peau Iorxqu'elles voyaient les enfants souriants, mais non Iorsqu'elles voyaient les enfants souriants, mais mm Iorsqu'on leur pr~3senta les vid&~s d'enfants en larmes. Par contre, pour les m~rres sans ant~ct~dents, leur r~action an niveau de la peau fur ~ I'inverse, L'article discutc des similarit~s dans les r6sultats chez les dcux groupes de m~.'res ainsi que los donn;3es sur la conduction au niveau de la peau ehez les m/:res nmltraitantes et cellos ~ risque t,;lew3. Rt.'sumen--Fl prcsenle estudio invcstig6 camhios en el ritmo cardiaco, conducci~'~n de la peil. y autoreporte de afecto en respuesta a los estfinulos infantilcs en madres con y sin historia de abuso psiquico en su infancia. Los estimulos fueron prescntacioncs en videotape de un bel",~ sonriendo y lh)rando. Durantc los periodos de linea base (antes de las prescntaciones del eiders), las madrcs sin historia de abuso en la infancia desplegaron una reducci6n significativa en la conduccit'm de la piel, que no rue obscrvada en madres con historia de abuso, sugiriendo que las madres sin historia de abuso se habituah:.n al encuadre experimental. A pesar de que los dos grupos de madres no difcrian en el autoreporte de afccto o en el ritmo card/aco en respuesta al I",d'~ Ilorando y sonriendo, las madres c~m historia de abuso demostraban un aumento en la conducci~'m de la piel mientras ,,eian el nifio sonrienta, pero no cuando velan el bcl~ Ilorando. Por el contrario, madrcs sin historia de ahuso en la infancia demostraron aumentos en la conducch~n de la piel durante la presentaci6n del bcbe Ilorando. pero n6 mientra-,~ velan al bebe sonriendo. Se discutieron las semejanzas entre h~s rcsultados dc la conducci6n de la piel de madres con y sin historia de abuso y los datos de la conducci6n de la piel reportado por madres fisic~/mente abusivas y de alto riesgo.